FLYERS VS. FLAMES PREVIEW (4:30 AM EST)
In the final game of the pre-Olympic break portion of their schedule, the Philadelphia Flyers (29-23-6) will look for their 30th overall win and 16th home victory of the season as they play host to the Calgary Flames (22-28-7). Game time is 1:00 PM EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs, and the lone game at the Wells Fargo Center.
On Dec. 31, the Flyers celebrated New Year's Eve with an efficient 4-1 win in Calgary. Mark Streit gave the Flyers an early lead. After rookie Sean Monahan tied the game in the middle period, Brayden Schenn soon restored an advantage the Flyers would not relinquish. Scott Hartnell added some insurance midway through the third period and Braydon Coburn punctuated the victory with a shorthanded empty net goal with 1:56 remaining.
For the game, the Flyers generated only 20 shots on Reto Berra (17 saves) while limiting Calgary to 24 shots on Ray Emery (19 saves). Eleven of the Flames' shots came in the middle period; during which time Calgary outplayed the Flyers. Philly was the better team in the first and third periods, both in terms of shots and overall performance.
After today's game, five Flyers players will head to Sochi, Russia for the Olympics: forwards Jakub Voracek (Czech Republic) and Michael Raffl (Austria) as well as defensemen Kimmo Timonen (Finland), Mark Streit (Switzerland)and Andrej Meszaros (Slovakia). The rest of the team is officially on break through Feb. 23.
The Flyers' season will resume on Thurs. Feb. 27. On that night, the San Jose Sharks will come to town for a 7:00 p.m. tilt.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are moving in the right direction as they head into the final game before the Olympic break. They have won three games in a row -- all against strong opposition -- and four of their last five.
On Thursday, the Flyers came out on the winning end of a goaltending duel between Steve Mason (38 saves) and Russian Olympian Semyon Varlamov (32 saves). The Flyers downed the Colorado Avalanche by a 3-1 score.
Against Colorado, a second period power play goal by Streit was supplemented by an insurance goal by Raffl. After Nathan MacKinnon drew the Avs back within a goal with 2:50 left on the game clock and Varlamov already pulled for an extra attacker, Flyers captain Claude Giroux sealed the victory with an empty net goal. Additionally, Sean Couturier earned a pair of assists for the Flyers in the game.
Streit has scored power play goals in back-to-back games. As a team, the Flyers have scored at least once on the man advantage in eight consecutive games and in 14 of their last 17 matches. The power play has clicked at a 15-for-61 (24.6 percent) ratio over that 17-game stretch.
The Flyers have no reported injuries that would hold a player out of the lineup today, although there's a variety of banged-up players on the roster. This, of course, is the case with every NHL team at this stage of the season.
On Thursday, Mason suffered progressively worse leg cramps as a result of dehydration. He took a maintenance day yesterday. With the team going on break after today and Ray Emery having not started a game since a 5-2 loss in Columbus on Jan. 23 (34 saves on 39 shots), it is quite possible that Emery will get the nod this afternoon.
Emery last appeared in a game in relief of Mason during the Flyers' 6-1 home debacle against Boston on Jan. 25. Emery stopped 12 of 14 shots -- allowing back-to-back Bruins power play goals during a four-minute man advantage -- in 26:46 of duty.
Following the team's blowout loss to Boston and before heading over the annual Wives' Carnival, the club held a skating-intensive practice reminiscent of the practices Craig Berube conducted in his first few weeks after taking over for Peter Laviolette as head coach. Since that time, the Flyers have gone 4-1-0 while outscoring opponents by an 18-8 margin. Goaltender Mason has posted a 1.41 GAA and a .955 save percentage with a pair of shutouts against Detroit and Los Angeles.
FLAMES OUTLOOK
As with the Flyers, the Flames have been trending in a positive direction heading into the Olympic break. Although the club still has the fourth-worst overall record in the NHL, Calgary has won six of its last seven games. The stretch includes victories over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks.
Calgary enters today's game coming off a 4-2 road win against the Islanders on Thursday night. After a scoreless first period, Monahan's 16th goal of his rookie NHL campaign and a power play goal by defenseman Dennis Wideman staked the Flames to a 2-0 lead. The Islanders came back to tie the game in the third period before David Jones put Calgary ahead to stay. Mikael Backlund added an empty-net goal. Berra made 28 saves for the win.
The Flames remain an offensively challenged team, although work ethic is not the issue. The club enters today's game with the second-worst even strength goals for/against ratio in the NHL. Only Buffalo is lower.
Only four Calgary players have reached double-digit goals to this point, with the 19-year-old Monahan leading the club in that department. Jiri Hudler (14 goals, 29 assists, 43 points) paces the squad in assists and overall points.
On the Calgary injury front, veteran forward Curtis Glencross (high-ankle sprain) remains on injured reserve. Goaltender Karri Ramo (sprained MCL) is also unavailable.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.71 (17th), Flames 2.32 (27th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.78 (18th), Flames 3.05 (26th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.93 (20th), Flames 0.73 (29th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.8% (10th), Flames 14.5% (24th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.0% (6th), Flames 80.4% (22nd)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 48.8% (22nd), Flames 49.5% (28th)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Vincent Lecavalier - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn
29 Ray Emery / 35 Steve Mason
Potential Scratches: Andrej Meszaros (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
FLAMES
24 Jiri Hudler - 11 Mikael Backlund - 22 Lee Stempniak
13 Michael Cammalleri - 23 Sean Monahan - 8 Joe Colborne
17 Lance Bouma - 18 Matt Stajan - 54 David Jones
15 Kevin Westgarth - 39 T.J. Galiardi - 16 Brian McGrattan
7 T.J. Brodie - 5 Mark Giordano
3 Ladislav Smid - 6 Dennis Wideman
4 Kris Russell - 44 Chris Butler
29 Reto Berra
[49 Joni Ortio]
Potential Scratches: Curtis Glencross (IR, high ankle sprain), Kari Ramo (IR, sprained MCL), Paul Byron (healthy), Christopher Breen (healthy).
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